Duplex feed-valve.



No..'7'79,170. PATENTED JAN. 3, 1905. H. R. MASON. DUPLEX'PBEI} VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21, 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

WITNESSES PATBNTED JAN. 3, 1905.

H. R. MASON.

DUPLEX FEED .VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 21. 1902.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 Wrrusssms UNITED STATES Patented January 3, 1905.

PATENT Tries.

HARRY R. MASON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE VVESIING- HOUSE AIR BRAKE COMPANY, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF PENNSYLVANIA.

DUPLEX FEED-VALVE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,170, dated January 3, 1905.

Applicatio fil d January 21, 1902. Serial No. 90,652.

I vented or discovered a certain new and useful Improvement in Duplex Feed-Valves, of which improvement the following is a specification.

My invention relates to feed-valve devices for fluid-pressure brakes.

In the use of fluid-pressure brakes upon railway-trains it has become the practice to operate the brake system at a higher pressure on fast trains than in ordinary service. The ordinary working pressure is seventy pounds in the train-pipe and ninety pounds in the main reservoir, while the pressures used on fast trains, or with whatis known as the high speed brake, are considerably greater, the train-pipe pressure being as high as one hundred pounds and the main-reservoir pressure one hundred and ten pounds or more. In order to give these different train-pipe pressures, it has heretofore'been the practice to use two separate feed-valves located somewhere on the locomotive in connection with a suitable cock for throwing one or the other into operation as it was desired to use the ordinary pressure or the higher pressure, one of said valves being set for seventy pounds and the other for one hundred pounds. This constituted abulky construction, and the feedvalves had to be placed at a distance from the engineers brake-valve and out of easy reach of the engineer.

The object of this invention is to provide a feed-valve device which will perform the required functions of giving either ordinary or high-speed pressure in the train-pipe and at the same time be oi such compact form that it may be attached directly to the engineers brake-valve in the place usually occupied by the single feed valve, thus eliminating all pipe connections and locating the device within easy reach of the engineer at all times.

With this object in view my invention comprises a main feed-valve having an abutment for operating the same for controlling communication between the main reservoir and train-pipe and two or more auxiliary devices set to operate at different train-pipe pressures for controlling the pressure on the abutment of the main feed-valve, with means for cutting out of operation one or other of said auxiliary devices, all as hereinafter more fully described, and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section of my improved feed-valve device, taken on the line a; w of Fig. 3. Fig. 2 is a plan view with the upper part or section of the casing removed, the cut-out cock being shown in horizontal section. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken on the lines .2 .2 and y y of Figs. 1 and 2, respectively, one of the auxiliary valve devices being shown in elevation; and Fig. i is a plan view of my improvement shown attached to the usual form of engineers brake-valve, the latter being shown in horizontal section in the plane of its valve-seat.

I have illustrated the casing of my improved feed-valve device as composed of two parts or sections, the upper section 1 containing the main controlling-valve of the feedvalve device and the lower section 2 carrying the two auxiliary valve devices 3 and L, which are set to operate at different pressures and are connected with the main controllingvalve by suitable passages, and the cut-out cock 5 for throwing one or the other of the auxiliary valve devices into or out of operation. The two sections may be secured together by bolts or any other suitable means.

The upper section 1 of the casing is adapted to be secured to the engineers brake-valve 6, as shown in Fig. 4:, in such a position that the port 9 of the feed-valve casing registers with the passage 7 of the engineers valvecasing leading from the main feed-port from the main reservoir when the engineers brakevalve is in running position and the port 10 of the feed-valve casing registers with the passage 8 of the engineers brake-valve, which leads to the train-pipe, as will be readily understood by those familiar with the art; As the ordinary form of Westinghouse engineers brake-valve is used, further description there of will be unnecessary. A passage 12 connects the port9 with the valve-chamber 11, containing main feed-valve 15, which controls the port 14, communicating by a passage 13 with the port 10, leading to the train-pipe.

The valve 15 is actuated by an abutment or piston 16 attached thereto and located in a chamber communicating with the valve-chamber, a spring 17 acting to keep the valve closed when the pressures on opposite sides of the piston are equal.

While I have shown a main feed-valve of the slide-valve type, such does not constitute my invention, nor is my invention limited in its use to this type of feed-valve, since it may also be applied with valves of other forms.

The train-pipe passage 14 is connected by passages 20, 21, and 22 with the chambers 27 above the diaphragms 28 of the auxiliary valve devices 3 and 4, the construction of these devices being similar in all parts. The chamber 18, behind the main piston 16, is connected with the cut-out cock 5 by passages 19, 23, and 24, and the latter passage may be put in communication with either passage 26, leading to auxiliary valve device 3, or with passage 26, leading to auxiliary valve device 4, by means of the recess 25 in the cock 5.

The small auxiliary valve 29 controls communication from the passage 26 to the chamber 27 above the abutment or diaphragm 28, which chamber is in open communication with the train-pipe, the auxiliary valve being normally closed by small spring 31 when the train-pipe pressure is normal. An adjustable spring 30 acts against the lower side of the diaphragm in opposition to the train-pipe pressure. 1

When the train-pipe is duly charged and the engineers brake-valve in running position, air under pressure from the main reservoir enters the valve-chamber 11 and leaks around the piston 16 into chamber 18, also filling passages 19 23 24 and either passage 26 or 26, according to the position of the cock 5.

The spring 30 of one of the auxiliary valve devices, as 3, is adjusted for the ordinary train-pipe pressure of seventy pounds, while the corresponding spring of the other auxil iary valve device 4 is adjusted for a higher train-pipe pressure, from ninety to one hundred pounds. Then with the cock 5 in the position shown in Fig. 2 when the train-pipe pressure falls below seventy pounds the spring 30 will force up the diaphragm 28, which engages the depending stem 32 of the valve 29 and opens said valve, thereby releasing the main-reservoir pressure which had accumulated in chamber 18 behind the main piston to the train-pipe. The greater pressure in the valve-chamber 11 will then move the pis' ton so as to open the main feed-valve 15 and charge the train-pipe. When the train-pipe pressure has increased to seventy pounds, the auxiliary valve 29 will close, and as the main piston 16 then becomes balanced as to fluidpressure by the leakage to the chamber 18 the spring 17 will close the main feed-valve. During this operation the auxiliary valve device 4 has remained inert, since it is cut out of operation by means of cock 5. Now if it is desired to operate the system as a highspeed brake for fast trains, the governor being set to give the desired main-reservoir pressure, all that is necessary is to turn the cock 5 so as to cut out auxiliary valve device 3 and connect the passage 24 with passage 26, leading to auxiliary valve device 4. The operation will then be similar to that before described; but the normal train-pipe pressure will be maintained at the desired increased amount corresponding to that for which the spring of the auxiliary valve device 4 is adjusted.

It will now be seen that I have provided a compact duplex feed-valve device which may be attached directly to the body of the engineers brake-valve in the usual location and adapted by the simple turning of a cock from one position to another to give either ordinary or high-speed pressure in the train-pipe.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A duplex feed-valve device, comprising a passage for establishing communication between the main reservoir and the train-pipe, a valve for controlling said passage, a movable abutment for operating said valve, two auxiliary devices adapted to be actuated by different degrees of train-pipe pressure to control the pressureon one side of said abutment, and means for cutting out of operation one of said auxiliary devices.

2. A duplex feed-valve device, comprising a main valve for controlling communication between the main reservoir and the train-pipe, a movable abutment for operating said main valve, two auxiliary valve devices adapted to be operated by different train-pipe pressures to control the pressure on one side of said abutment, and a cock for cutting out one of said auxiliary valve devices.

3. In a feed-valve device, the combination with a main valve for controlling communication between the main reservoir and trainpipe, and a movable abutment for operating said main valve, two auxiliary valves having actuating-abutments exposed to train-pipe pressure, the auxiliary valves being adapted to control the pressure on one side of the mainvalve abutment, and a cock for cutting out one of said auxiliary valves.

. 4. In a feed-valve device, the combination with a main valve for controlling communication between the main reservoir and trainpipe, and a movable abutment for operating said valve, of two auxiliary valves each having an actuating-abutment exposed on one side to train-pipe pressure and a spring acting in opposition to said train-pipe pressure, the auxiliary valves being adapted to control the pressure on one side of the main-valve abutment,

and a cock for cutting out one of said auxiliary valves.

5. In a feed-valve device, the combination with a main valve for controlling communication between the main reservoir and trainpipe, and a movable abutment exposed on both sides to fluid-pressure for operating said valve, of two auxiliary valves having actuating-abutments exposed to train-pipe pressure for releasing the fiuid under pressure from one side of the main-valve abutment, and means for cutting out one of said auxiliary valves.

6. In a feed-valve device, the combination with a main valve for controlling communication between the main reservoir and trainpipe, and a movable abutment for operating said valve, of two auxiliary valves for controlling the pressure on one side of said mainvalve abutment, each auxiliary valve having an actuating-abutment exposed on one side to train-pipe pressure and on the other side to an adjustable spring-pressure, and a cock for cutting in or out one of said auxiliary valves.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

HARRY R. MASON. In presence of- PAUL CARPENTER, H. W. SMALLEY. 

